>> a black male thing. premieres on ifc. todd margaret on october 1. david cross. >> that's september 28. i'm keith olbermann, good night and good luck. join us for the live edition of "countdown" every weeknight at 8:00 eastern, 5:00 pacific bchlt there. aloha. battling for votes. he became the presidenter campaigning for change. now voters want change. seeing red, a colombian bullfight turns deadly for rowdy speck tail tors. and military mishap, two navy pilots under fire for lowering their choppers into lake tahoe. good morning to you. i'm veronica de la cruz, those stories for you straight ahead. this is "first look" on msnbc.

now, we begin this morning with desperate measures. president obama heads to the nation's heartland today where he will no doubt rake with republicans over the coals but they aren't the only ones in the hot seat. the president turned up the heat on his own party members yesterday hoping to obtain the support that won in the presidency. tracy potts has more for us now from washington. good morning, tracey. buck up, president obama said in one interview. he's trying to reenergize this party with political tough love. >> i don't know about you, but i'm fired up. >> president obama is telling democrats, ignore polls and pundits played in the parties apathetic. >> we cannot sit this one out. we can let this country fall backwards because the rest of us didn't care enough to fight. >> in interviews, he's even tougher. the president told rolling stone the democrats, quote, sitting on their hands complaining are irresponsible. republicans and even some democrats say beating up the

base may backfire. >> you're out there trying to terrify them and put all the scare tactics it there and hope that the fear will drive them to the polls. >> mr. obama is on a four-state swing to drum up support amid a faltering economy. >> i don't think there's one of them -- one specific sector we can place blame on. >> a third of americans do. in a new nbc-"wall street journal" poll, the percentage that blame mr. obama for the economic woe has doubled since january. the tea party says they've gotten momentum. >> out there on the democratic side as much as the republican side. >> expect more heated rhetoric as he rallies in ohio and virginia today. the most popular democrat out there right now is former president clinton. that's one reason he's out there campaigning too. veroni veronica. >> tracey potts in washington. thank you so much. >> >> in the runup to midterm elections, fl politics have been

getting a lot of attention after that state's governor dropped out of the republican senate primary to run as an independent. lawrence o'donnell asked charlie krys if there are any positions that he held as a republican that he's abandoned as an independent. >> i'm pro life. but they passed a bill in the florida legislature that would have required an ultra sound be performed on any woman contemplating stuff and also require that she would have to pay for it. i vetoed that bill because when it comes to the overall spectrum of things, my view is tax cuts, hell yes! your government in your bedroom, hell no! that sort of really defines charlie krys, i'm a frugal guy. i want to be as careful with the public's dollars as possible, especially in this economy. but i don't want to impose my personal will on people either.

we're independent people. up in of us like to be told what to do on any issue. we need to respect the rights of others and that's my point of view on the issues. fiscal conservative who's a social moderate who wants to respect all and make sure that the views of the people are put first rather than the views of the party. >> be sure to join lawrence o'donnell each night as he rounds up the primetime lineup with the last word on the biggest issues and the mohs compelling stories of the day. that's the last word with lawrence o'donnell here on msnbc, the place for politics. in the first line of division within the democratic party, 47 house democrats have broken ranks with the president on bush-era tax cuts on capital gains and dividends. they're calling for extension of the maximum rate on income. that rate expires at the end of the year. president obama wants to extend

the rate for middle income homes, he wants to increase it for high earners. the increase would particularly hurt retirees. a vote on tax breaks is unlikely before congress adjourns this week to campaign ahead of midterm elections. intelligence officials in europe have uncovered a plot for what's being called mumbai-style attacks of france and germany. just yesterday, the eiffel tower was evacuated following a bomb threat. according to one counterterrorism official, some recent missile strikes by unmanned u.s. drones in northern afghanistan were aimed at the plots aimed at europe. the threat levels have not been raised. the first look at some of the other stories going on around america today. the u.s. navy is investigating an unauthorized exercise that

took place over california's lake tahoe. two navy helicopters are hovering and dipping into the waters resulting in an estimated to $50,000 to $500,000 in damages. while the helicopters are back in service, both pilots are grounded until the end of the investigation. sending video shows for the first time a school of blue whales swimming right off of the california coastline. new weather patterns and cooler waters that bring in an abundance of krill could be attracting hungry whales. experts are concerned by an increased risk of the whales being struck by the boats. >> >> one phillies fan ditched the finger went all out. a custom phillies paint job. it took eight months to complete, but the fighting phillies fan hopes it will be a world series charm. very nice. in new york, if you can't

find it, look up -- 20 feet. the street sign honoring the lake punk legend has been stolen four times since 2003 forcing officials to reinstall the placard 40 feet above street level. perhaps a gps is still your best bet for finding joey ramon place, not the person. we turn to bill karins, with the forecast. there's plenty of nights you spent in ceebeejeebees. >> yeah, a little bit of a fan, not huge, enough. this is tropical depression 16. i don't want to think of this system as a tropical storm or maybe even a tropical depression. it will be more like a nor'easter coming up the east coast. a lot of heavy rain, beach

erosion. not going to do a lot with the wind damage. the hurricane center says it's now looking across the coast of florida. miami is drenched with rain. gusty winds, heavy rain, it starts in florida today, it will be all the way up to new england by tomorrow. the storm is going to accelerate up the coast. it has a slight chance of becoming tropical storm nicole. even if it does, the winds will be very strong, not like an organized drop cam system we track. you can see the moisture streaming to the north. being sucked up here in the eastern seaboard. we're going to get drenched. we'll have flooding problems in thursday, friday, new jersey, eastern pennsylvania. carolinas in the wilmington area are going to have flooding concerns in the next 24 to 48 hours. the rest of the country, gorgeous. high pressure protects you with the nice weather. right along the east coast. the stalled out front is a conveyor belt of tropical

moisture coming up the coast. you can see it, the storm is down in the stlraits but a ton f moisture is streaming in for south carolina, raleigh, to wilmington. when this happens for 36 hours like this, on top of saturated soil, we'll see flooding conditions. the yellow is two inches. the orange is the darker colors along the coast. maryland, delaware, eastern north carolina, southern new england. that's five to six inches of rain. that's enough to cause some serious problems. we'll continue to watch the heat out west. but compared to the flooding concerns we have out there, veroni veronica, in the next two days, not too big of a dill. the 113 was impressive in l.a. a couple of days ago. but we're past that. >> we're going need to borrow some sunshine for the rest of the country, bill. >> not till friday. well, gold sparkles, tech stocks trip up. and getting a beer in tough times. the first look at this morning's business headlines are straight ahead.

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welcome back to "first look." here are some of the top stories making news this morning. former president jimmy carter is expected to resume his book tour after spending the night in a cleveland, ohio hospital with an upset stomach. medical officials said the decision to admit him was purely precautionary and carter who received a call from president obama was fully alert and resting comfortably. an appeals court allows funding for embryonic research extende extended. a reverse of the federal judge's previous injunction blocking the funding. the scheduled execution of convicted rapist and murderer albert brown is on hold. they needed more time to

determine if it removed the risk of a prolonged or painful death. it will prevent any further executions in california until early next year due to a nationwide shortage of a key drug needed for lethal injections. three people were dead and dozens more injured after spectators jumped into a bull ring over the weekend and the bull started goring people. the town's mayor blamed public drunkenness for the tragedy. now here's your first outlook at wall street today. the dow opened at 10,858 after gaining 46 points yesterday. the s&p edged up five points, the nasdaq rose nine. take a look at overseas trading, the nikkei added 63 points. while in hong kong, the hang seng climbed 268. tuesday, mixed economic reports got wall street off to a rocky start. but a late rally helped stocks

close mostly higher yesterday. a drop for september confidence in september fueled an early selloff despite an upbeat report on housing prices. industry survey that found ceos aren't exactly optimistic about a short term recovery in sales or staffing. uncertainty in stocks drove gold to a first high above $1300 an ounce for the first time. 11% after easily beating analysts' estimates. another corporate deal -- endo pharmaceuticals shot up 8% after news it will pay $1.2 billion to buy qualitest farm suit calls. monsanto was hit hard on engineered crops.

playbook tablet won't be on the market until next year. the obama administration is proposing a deal to unload a stake in aig before the midterm elections. hewlett packard, a robust forecast was delivered by an interim ceo. times are tough when you have to barter for beer. one island owner has revised the barter system to help locals beat the news. he's trading cold ones for firewood and potatoes. a brave is clinching the pinch. what's gotten into the cool aid? plus an amazing catch wasn't the only thing the cincinnati reds had to celebrate last night. first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. skin absorbs it better and it lasts for 24 hours. later gator. lubriderm. your moisture matched.

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a different team last year, hit the 17th of the season. tampa led it, 5-0. david price made another strong bid for the cy young. he struck out eight for his 19th victory. the rays clifrnled s clinched a spot. the yankees are back in the playoffs. like c.c. sabathia struck out the 21st win. rivera got overbayh to ground out to win it. the yanks have qualified for the playoffs 15 times in the last 16 years and knocked out the blue jays, 6-1. the braves enter the postseason with a flare to the dramatics. hit one high and deep, unfortunately for them, drew's stuff was there. a home run robbing grab kept it close. we go to the ninth. tied at two. jay brooks clinched the central with one big swing, a walkoff homer. the reds advance, 3-2. the braves are doing all they can. eric henskey gave atlanta the

lead. they have a lead in the wild card race. teddy roosevelt glasses flopping around. maybe that's why he didn't see this. the cool aid man came out of nowhere and took teddy out. a rough ride for the rough rider. thomas jefferson won the race. but it was the kool-aid man who made the biggest splash. that's the first look at sports, i'm fred rogan. we were talking about you being joey ramon for halloween. you should be the kool-aid man. >> that would be fun times. greenwich village has the big halloween parade. >> absolutely. >> you give attention. you have to run through a wall or something, though. let's talk about what's happening out there this morning. it's very humid out there if you're in new england or down along jerp see shore. you felt it last night, you feel it this morning. that's because we're connected

now to the tropical moisture down -- all the way down in cuba. this is the tropical depression. we're not going to see the cooler air moving our way. for the most part, all of the weather is going south to north. you can track one batch of rain that's going to clip rhode island in areas of cape cod four hours from now. the heavy rains arrive tonight. cloudier as the day goes on. temperatures will be pretty warm mostly in the 70s. humidity will be on the high side. but the really heavy rains will arrive tonight all day thursday. and we could see some thunderstorms mix in here. we're talking as much as six inches of rain from some of the big cities. so, veronica, tomorrow morning's commute will be a nightmare, it looks like. more details tomorrow, of course, and during the day today. >> i think i want to be the kool-aid man for halloween. >> it would be fun. fans of one hit show are worried too many stars are going to ruin the fun. plus, who came out on top so, to

speak, on an on-line poll choosing the worst dressed man in show biz. you're watching "first look" on msnbc.

welcome back to "first look." last night on "late night with jimmy fallon," jimmy gave an update on iran's relations with israel. >> during the trip next month, mahmud ahmadinejad said he's planning to throw a rock at israel. that's what he said. he said i'm going to throw a rock at israel. and today, israel introduced the newest defense weapon, paper.

dancing with the stars was exciting last night, you guys. i don't know if you saw it. it was very exciting. sarah palin appeared on the show to support her daughter, bristol. sarah was like, please don't let her fall, please don't let her fall. and bristol was like, please don't let her talk. >> lindsey lohan reportedly checked into a new rehab facility today. she said the same thing she always does when checking in -- keep the car running. tonight, jimmy welcomed justin timberlake and belle and sebastian. that's 11:35 central time on your local nbc station. all right, time now for your first look at entertainment news. justin timberlake may be starring in the new facebook movie "the social network," but it doesn't mean he's in to facebook himself. he said, i don't care about my

friends' feelings, they can call me and tell me. do you ever wonder what the president grooves to. in an interview with rolling stone, obama says his ipod has about 2,000 songs on it, including stevie wonder, bob dillon, and the rolling stones. an on-line poll has named russell brand is the worst dressed man in show biz followed in second place by teen heartthrob, justin bieber. confirmation gwyneth paltrow will be on "glee," fans of the show who call themselves "gleeks" are worrying that the star trend will be the show's undoing. seth rogen is getting married to his girlfriend who said, quote, i have a girl friend far prettier than i should have. i think justin timberlake has a facebook page.

>> he doesn't contribute. he has handlers to do it. >> i'm sure he does. i'm sure you have handlers for yours too. >> do i have one? >> i do. i don't think you do. i'm veronica de la cruz, this is "first look," stay tuned because "way too early" with willy geist starts right now. >> three out of ten americans think the country is on the wrong track. president obama hits it campaign trail trying to save his party from being wiped out in the midterms. the question is, what did the president say about his faith? and why did he say it? meanwhile, the california gubernatorial race gets good as meg whitman and jerry brown meet in the same room to debate for the first time. the question is, why does whitman compare brown to dracula? a big night for alaska as "dancing with the stars" digs deeper to the faith controversy over whether or not sarah palin was booed on the show the other night. and levi johnston is grilled on this very network